Entertaining Suspenseful Loveable bunch of Rogue

Adventures of Philip Marlowe Vol 1

By:
PDQ Audiobooks

Narrated by:
Gerald Mohr Van Heflin

Length: 26 hrs and 1 min

Original Recording

Overall

4.5 out of 5 stars
40

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
35

Story

4.5 out of 5 stars
35

The Adventures of Philip Marlowe, Volume 1 is a collection of the only known episodes to exist from its run on both NBC and CBS radio. Originally called "The New Adventures of Philip Marlowe," the private eye series, based on the character and books created by Raymond Chandler, made its debut on the NBC radio network on June 17, 1947, with Van Heflin in the role of Marlowe. The first episode adapted Chandler's short story "Red Wind."

4 out of 5 stars

Addictive and fun, but questionable sound quality

By
Jeanne
on
02-01-16

Inner Sanctum Mysteries

Oldtime Radio Shows

By:
Radio Revival

Narrated by:
Old Time Radio

Length: 66 hrs and 11 mins

Original Recording

Overall

4.5 out of 5 stars
74

Performance

4 out of 5 stars
66

Story

4.5 out of 5 stars
65

This is an collection of
Inner Sanctum Mysteries, an oldtime radio show from the 1940s and 1950s. If you love a good horror story, you'll love these. You get all these (and many others plus more of the same genre):

Homicidal Maniac

The Tell-Tale Heart

Song of the Slasher

Murder Comes to Life

Death on the Highway

The Scream

Island of Death

Man From Yesterday

Color Blind Formula

Desert Death

3 out of 5 stars

Worth the listen if you know what you're getting.

By
Gonzalo
on
10-24-13

Box 13, Old Time Radio Shows

By:
various writers

Narrated by:
Alan Ladd

Length: 23 hrs and 19 mins

Original Recording

Overall

4.5 out of 5 stars
32

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
24

Story

4.5 out of 5 stars
24

Alan Ladd stars as newspaperman turned mystery novelist Dan Holliday. To seek out new ideas for his fiction, Holliday runs classified ads in the Star-Times newspaper, where he formerly worked: "Adventure wanted, will go anywhere, do anything - write Box 13, Star-Times." Each episode follows Holliday's adventures when he responds to the letters sent to him by such people as a psycho killer and various victims.

5 out of 5 stars

Good program

By
Doug Briggman
on
10-01-17

Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar, Volume 1

By:
Les Crutchfield,
John Dawson,
Robert Ryf

Narrated by:
Bob Bailey

Length: 12 hrs and 8 mins

Original Recording

Overall

5 out of 5 stars
63

Performance

5 out of 5 stars
52

Story

5 out of 5 stars
53

Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar began in 1949 as a typical slam-bang detective series, and though consistently well written and acted, the series never really captured an enthusiastic audience. However, in the fall of 1955, Bob Bailey took over the title role; veteran director Jack Johnstone and writers John Dawson, Robert Ryf, and Les Crutchfield joined the production team; and the series was transformed into a quarter-hour, five-a-week strip show.

4 out of 5 stars

The Best

By
Amazon Customer
on
06-14-16

Dragnet: Old Time Radio - 379 Episodes

By:
Frank Burt,
James E. Moser,
John Robinson

Narrated by:
Jack Webb,
Barton Yarborough,
Ben Alexander,
and others

Length: 137 hrs and 54 mins

Original Recording

Overall

4.5 out of 5 stars
231

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
204

Story

4.5 out of 5 stars
209

Dragnet was perhaps the most famous and influential police procedural drama in media history. The series gave millions of audience members a feel for the boredom and drudgery, as well as the danger and heroism, of real-life police work.

Actor and producer Jack Webb's aims in Dragnet were for realism and unpretentious acting. He achieved both goals, and Dragnet remains a key influence on subsequent police dramas in many media.

Entertaining Suspenseful Loveable bunch of Rogue

Adventures of Philip Marlowe Vol 1

By:
PDQ Audiobooks

Narrated by:
Gerald Mohr Van Heflin

Length: 26 hrs and 1 min

Original Recording

Overall

4.5 out of 5 stars
40

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
35

Story

4.5 out of 5 stars
35

The Adventures of Philip Marlowe, Volume 1 is a collection of the only known episodes to exist from its run on both NBC and CBS radio. Originally called "The New Adventures of Philip Marlowe," the private eye series, based on the character and books created by Raymond Chandler, made its debut on the NBC radio network on June 17, 1947, with Van Heflin in the role of Marlowe. The first episode adapted Chandler's short story "Red Wind."

4 out of 5 stars

Addictive and fun, but questionable sound quality

By
Jeanne
on
02-01-16

Inner Sanctum Mysteries

Oldtime Radio Shows

By:
Radio Revival

Narrated by:
Old Time Radio

Length: 66 hrs and 11 mins

Original Recording

Overall

4.5 out of 5 stars
74

Performance

4 out of 5 stars
66

Story

4.5 out of 5 stars
65

This is an collection of
Inner Sanctum Mysteries, an oldtime radio show from the 1940s and 1950s. If you love a good horror story, you'll love these. You get all these (and many others plus more of the same genre):

Homicidal Maniac

The Tell-Tale Heart

Song of the Slasher

Murder Comes to Life

Death on the Highway

The Scream

Island of Death

Man From Yesterday

Color Blind Formula

Desert Death

3 out of 5 stars

Worth the listen if you know what you're getting.

By
Gonzalo
on
10-24-13

Box 13, Old Time Radio Shows

By:
various writers

Narrated by:
Alan Ladd

Length: 23 hrs and 19 mins

Original Recording

Overall

4.5 out of 5 stars
32

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
24

Story

4.5 out of 5 stars
24

Alan Ladd stars as newspaperman turned mystery novelist Dan Holliday. To seek out new ideas for his fiction, Holliday runs classified ads in the Star-Times newspaper, where he formerly worked: "Adventure wanted, will go anywhere, do anything - write Box 13, Star-Times." Each episode follows Holliday's adventures when he responds to the letters sent to him by such people as a psycho killer and various victims.

5 out of 5 stars

Good program

By
Doug Briggman
on
10-01-17

Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar, Volume 1

By:
Les Crutchfield,
John Dawson,
Robert Ryf

Narrated by:
Bob Bailey

Length: 12 hrs and 8 mins

Original Recording

Overall

5 out of 5 stars
63

Performance

5 out of 5 stars
52

Story

5 out of 5 stars
53

Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar began in 1949 as a typical slam-bang detective series, and though consistently well written and acted, the series never really captured an enthusiastic audience. However, in the fall of 1955, Bob Bailey took over the title role; veteran director Jack Johnstone and writers John Dawson, Robert Ryf, and Les Crutchfield joined the production team; and the series was transformed into a quarter-hour, five-a-week strip show.

4 out of 5 stars

The Best

By
Amazon Customer
on
06-14-16

Dragnet: Old Time Radio - 379 Episodes

By:
Frank Burt,
James E. Moser,
John Robinson

Narrated by:
Jack Webb,
Barton Yarborough,
Ben Alexander,
and others

Length: 137 hrs and 54 mins

Original Recording

Overall

4.5 out of 5 stars
231

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
204

Story

4.5 out of 5 stars
209

Dragnet was perhaps the most famous and influential police procedural drama in media history. The series gave millions of audience members a feel for the boredom and drudgery, as well as the danger and heroism, of real-life police work.

Actor and producer Jack Webb's aims in Dragnet were for realism and unpretentious acting. He achieved both goals, and Dragnet remains a key influence on subsequent police dramas in many media.

5 out of 5 stars

The Grandfather of Law and Order

By
Kindle Customer
on
09-21-13

Gunsmoke, Season 1

By:
PDQ Audioworks

Narrated by:
William Conrad

Length: 31 hrs and 36 mins

Original Recording

Overall

4.5 out of 5 stars
78

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
66

Story

4.5 out of 5 stars
67

Everyone's favorite western, Gunsmoke, debuted June 26, 1952, on the CBS radio airwaves on starring William Conrad as Matt Dillon, and ran until June 18, 1961, making it the longest running dramatic series in radio history. This amazing audio collection contains 64 episodes from the first radio season, and are the live cast recordings from the original on-air performances.

4 out of 5 stars

Flawed, but good, collection of the classic series

By
Russell Weber
on
02-12-14

Suspense: Tales Well Calculated - Volume 1

By:
CBS Radio Network

Narrated by:
full cast

Length: 99 hrs and 40 mins

Original Recording

Overall

4 out of 5 stars
36

Performance

4 out of 5 stars
28

Story

4 out of 5 stars
29

Suspense went through several major phases, characterized by different hosts, sponsors, and director/producers. Formula plot devices were followed for all but a handful of episodes: The protagonist was usually a normal person suddenly dropped into a threatening or bizarre situation; solutions were "withheld until the last possible second"; and evildoers were usually punished in the end.

1 out of 5 stars

Needs to be culled to eliminate programs

By
B Wall
on
08-02-16

Theater Five - The Ultimate Collections

By:
ABC Radio

Narrated by:
full cast

Length: 89 hrs and 8 mins

Original Recording

Overall

4 out of 5 stars
22

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
19

Story

4 out of 5 stars
17

Theater Five was ABC's attempt to revive radio drama during the early 1960s. The series name was derived from its time slot, 5:00 p.m. Running Monday through Friday, it was an anthology of short stories, each about 20 minutes long. News programs and commercials filled out the full 30 minutes. There was a good bit of science fiction, and some of the plots seem to have been taken from the daily newspaper. Fred Foy of The Lone Ranger fame was an ABC staff announcer in the early '60s who, among other duties, did Theater Five.

1 out of 5 stars

poor sound

By
Charles Henry
on
05-02-17

Orson Welles: The Ultimate Collection

By:
Orson Welles

Narrated by:
Orson Welles

Length: 60 hrs and 44 mins

Original Recording

Overall

4 out of 5 stars
120

Performance

4 out of 5 stars
104

Story

4 out of 5 stars
102

If you are a lover of old-time radio and a fan of Orson Welles, you won't want to miss this treasure chest of legendary Orson Welles radio broadcasts! With his flair for the sensational and innovative, Welles captured audiences' attention with his 1930s CBS weekly drama series
The Mercury Theatre on the Air, later renamed
The Campbell Playhouse, which featured hour-long dramatizations of classic books. His 1938 production,
The War of the Worlds (an H. G. Wells adaptation) was especially memorable, as were many other productions, each featuring talented voices and actors.

4 out of 5 stars

Here is my review for what is worth.

By
Scott
on
07-03-14

The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: 60-Episode Set

By:
PDQ AudioWorks,
Arthur Conan Doyle

Narrated by:
Basil Rathbone

Length: 28 hrs and 22 mins

Original Recording

Overall

4.5 out of 5 stars
184

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
164

Story

4.5 out of 5 stars
164

The world-famous sleuth is back in this astounding 60-episode collection (many previously believed to have been lost) direct from the original radio broadcasts. Featuring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce, this collection contains nearly 30 hours of Old Time Radio broadcasting at its best. Digitally remastered from the original broadcast recordings, this amazing set is a true collector's item for Sherlock Holmes fans everywhere!

5 out of 5 stars

Old Radio at it's best

By
William
on
04-27-14

Our Miss Brooks: The Ultimate Collection - Over 180 Shows

By:
Al Lewis

Narrated by:
Eve Arden,
Gale Gordon

Length: 79 hrs and 10 mins

Original Recording

Overall

4 out of 5 stars
35

Performance

4 out of 5 stars
28

Story

4.5 out of 5 stars
27

Our Miss Brooks was a hit on radio from the outset; within eight months of its launch as a regular series, the show landed several honors, including four for Eve Arden, who won polls in four individual publications of the time. Arden had actually been the third choice to play the title role. Harry Ackerman, at the time CBS's West Coast director of programming, wanted Shirley Booth for the part.

Jimmy Stewart - Radio Collection

By:
Jimmy Stewart

Narrated by:
Jimmy Stewart

Length: 9 hrs and 20 mins

Original Recording

Overall

4 out of 5 stars
87

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
76

Story

4 out of 5 stars
75

This collection features 13 of the best radio performances by one of America's most beloved stars.

3 out of 5 stars

A few gems in here.

By
Kristi Richardson
on
04-29-13

Richard Diamond, Private Detective, Vol. 1

Old Time Radio Shows

By:
Blake Edwards

Narrated by:
Dick Powell

Length: 19 hrs and 50 mins

Original Recording

Overall

4.5 out of 5 stars
17

Performance

5 out of 5 stars
12

Story

5 out of 5 stars
12

Hollywood's beloved song and dance man, Dick Powell, turned gumshoe in this 1945-era detective yarn. At once a tough-talking detective working with police to solve tough murder cases and yet an affable crooner who ended nearly every episode singing to his girlfriend in his rich baritone voice. Whether murder or music, Dick Powell beguiled radio audiences through 100+ episodes before the show moved to television and the role was eventually taken over by David Janssen, later the star of
The Fugitive.

5 out of 5 stars

Here...the old stuff is better than the new stuff!

By
Timothy R Hall
on
06-15-17

The Adventures of Sam Spade: Lawless

By:
Dashiell Hammett,
William Spier

Narrated by:
Howard Duff,
Lurene Tuttle,
Stephen Dunne

Length: 7 hrs and 28 mins

Original Recording

Overall

5 out of 5 stars
13

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
10

Story

4.5 out of 5 stars
10

No bigger fad swept across postwar radio than that of the hard-boiled private detective - and nobody had more fun with their wink-and-nudge take on the genre than the producers, writers, and cast of The Adventures of Sam Spade. Dashiell Hammett's legendary private eye had a sardonic sense of humor, which wavy-haired, rugged-voiced Howard Duff played to perfection.

5 out of 5 stars

One of the best Radio Detectives

By
JAS
on
03-26-17

Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar: Confidential

By:
Jack Johnstone

Narrated by:
Bob Bailey

Length: 12 hrs and 18 mins

Original Recording

Overall

5 out of 5 stars
19

Performance

5 out of 5 stars
17

Story

5 out of 5 stars
17

America's fabulous freelance insurance investigator had little patience for liars and liked nothing better than females, fishing, and a free hand with an expense account. Bob Bailey's Johnny Dollar was skeptical without being cynical, sympathetic without being a sucker, and had a way of delivering a sarcastic remark with more sincerity than most detectives delivered straight talk. Join him for 10 action-packed, digitally remastered five-part serials.

5 out of 5 stars

As always, Bob Bailey delivers a good story

By
Mark McConnell
on
01-30-17

Gunsmoke, Season 2

By:
PDQ Audioworks

Narrated by:
William Conrad

Length: 22 hrs and 50 mins

Original Recording

Overall

5 out of 5 stars
34

Performance

5 out of 5 stars
33

Story

5 out of 5 stars
33

Everyone's favorite western,
Gunsmoke debuted on June 26, 1952 on the CBS radio airwaves on starring William Conrad as Matt Dillon, and ran until June 18, 1961, making it the longest running dramatic series in radio history. This amazing audio collection contains 52 episodes from the second radio season, and are the live cast recordings from the original on-air performances. Digitally remastered.

3 out of 5 stars

<br /><br /><br />

By
Sirlazer
on
12-29-17

Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar: Murder Matters

By:
Johnny Dollar

Narrated by:
Bob Bailey

Length: 12 hrs and 5 mins

Original Recording

Overall

5 out of 5 stars
74

Performance

5 out of 5 stars
65

Story

5 out of 5 stars
65

America's Fabulous Freelance Insurance Investigator faces cases of killing for vengeance and keeping silent for honor... "dead" men who won't stay down for long (or alive for much longer)... beneficiaries that can't be found and beautiful mixed up risk-takers who may be out on their last ledge. He pads his expense account in pursuit of stolen jewels, arsonists, crooked cops, and romance, all while he tries to solve matters of murder.

5 out of 5 stars

Dollar is the man.

By
Chris Coyne
on
04-16-15

Publisher's Summary

Richard Diamond, Private Detective is a detective drama which was on radio from 1949 to 1953 and on television from 1957 to 1960. Dick Powell starred in the Richard Diamond, Private Detective radio series as a rather light-hearted detective who often ended the episodes singing to his girlfriend, Helen (played by Virginia Gregg). It began airing on NBC on April 24, 1949, picked up Rexall as a sponsor on April 5, 1950, and continued until December 6, 1950. The shows were written by Blake Edwards. Its theme, "Leave It to Love", was whistled by Powell at the beginning of each episode.

With Camel cigarettes as a sponsor, it moved to ABC from January 5, 1951, to June 29, 1951, with Rexall returning for a run from October 5, 1951, until June 27, 1952. Substituting for Amos 'n' Andy, it aired Sunday evenings on CBS from May 31, 1953 until September 20, 1953.

Because Dick Powell was known for musical comedies prior to his appearance as Philip Marlowe in Raymond Chandler's Murder, My Sweet (1944) and because he was a detective who sang in Richard Diamond, Private Detective, some regard this radio series as an influence on the character of Philip E. Marlow (Michael Gambon) in Dennis Potter's chandleresque The Singing Detective (1986).

Powell's company, Four Star Television, produced the TV series, which premiered on CBS but was later telecast for its last year on NBC. David Janssen starred as Diamond, a hard-boiled private detective in the film noir tradition. His secretary, Sam, was shown only from the waist down to display her beautiful legs. Initially, these were the legs of Mary Tyler Moore, but later, the legs of other actresses were seen. Russ Conway appeared occasionally as Lieutenant Pete Kile during the final season. At one point during the three-year run, the show's setting was moved from New York City to Los Angeles.

Fantastic Old-Time Detective Radio Drama

Richard Diamond is just great.It is probably the ONLY detective radio drama of its time to have a sense of humor.

The series is somewhat similar to the style of story penned by Raymond Chandler in his Philip Marlowe mysteries but with a few laughs thrown in here or there.

These stories have definitely withstood the test of time. I doubt it would be possible to make a radio drama as good as Richard Diamond even using today's technology. It just has a certain charm to it that can never be recreated.

If you can hear the story you will enjoy it

The recording is horrible... The stories are great, the material is impecable.... But Before they sold the product they should work refining the audio quality... There is no excuse on these days to get a clean audio recording...

Oozing good looks that you can hear!

Hard knocks of a day in the life of one of the best private eyes in town. Dick Powell smart talks his way through all kinds of trouble, with a wham to the jaw of the bad guy and a soft spot for fairer sex, not to mention his serenades at the end of each episode. Love it!

Really nice

Could do without the Camel cigarette commercials. Otherwise, very entertaining. Good old fashioned fun entertainment.

1 of 2 people found this review helpful

Sort by:

Overall

1 out of 5 stars

Performance

1 out of 5 stars

Story

1 out of 5 stars

afitz

08-05-16

Bad recording

Unfortunately the recording is not up to standard. Not very easy to follow and understand.

Due to the cost this should have been made more aware

Overall

4 out of 5 stars

Performance

5 out of 5 stars

Story

5 out of 5 stars

Mr

06-21-16

old time gumshoe

I really enjoyed listening to these stories, it was a wonderful mix of humour and violence, filled with wit, romance and action. it really offered something for everyone. not to say it was without problems, some of the episodes had poor sound quality and some were repeated, sometimes rather close together. it also seemed to be missing 20 of the promised episodes. overall very entertaining, with a great cast, but let down in a few key areas, still I'd recommend it.

Overall

5 out of 5 stars

Performance

5 out of 5 stars

Story

5 out of 5 stars

max

05-10-15

TV show cover for the radio show ?

Blah Audible! You have the cover from the TV show and not the cover from the radio show which starred Dick Powell.

Found a few episodes on YT and thankfully Audible had the rest. Wish the audio was better, but for the cost of one credit it is still worth it.